Did God Speak at Sinai?

What supports the claim that God spoke to the entire Jewish people at the foot of Mount Sinai?

Who did God give the Torah to at Mount Sinai? Most people reply, "God gave the Torah to Moses."

And what were the Jewish people doing while Moses was receiving the Torah? "Worshipping the Golden Calf."

Correct answers – but NOT according to the Bible.

The above answers come from Cecil B. DeMille's classic film, "The Ten Commandments." Amazing the impact one movie can have on the Jewish education of generations of Jews. It's a great film, but DeMille should have read the original.

The version found in the Torah is quite different. The Torah's claim is that the entire people heard God speak at Mount Sinai, experiencing national revelation. God did not just appear to Moses in a private rendezvous; He appeared to everyone, some 3 million people. This claim is mentioned many times in the Torah.

[Moses told the Israelites]: 'Only beware for yourself and greatly beware for your soul, lest you forget the things that your eyes have beheld. Do not remove this memory from your heart all the days of your life. Teach your children and your children's children about the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horev [Mount Sinai]...

God spoke to you from the midst of the fire, you were hearing the sound of words, but you were not seeing a form, only a sound. He told you of His covenant, instructing you to keep the Ten Commandments, and He inscribed them on two stone tablets.' (Deut.4:9-13)

'You have been shown in order to know that God, He is the Supreme Being. There is none besides Him. From heaven he let you hear His voice in order to teach you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words amid the fire.' (Deut. 4:32-36)

Moses called all of Israel and said to them: 'Hear, O Israel, the decrees and the ordinances that I speak in your ears today ― learn them, and be careful to perform them. The Lord your God sealed a covenant with us at Horev [Mount Sinai]. Not with our forefathers did God seal this covenant, but with us ― we who are here, all of us alive today. Face to face did God speak with you on the mountain from amid the fire.' (Deut. 5:1-4)

The Torah claims that the entire Jewish nation heard God speak at Sinai, an assertion that has been accepted as part of their nation's history for over 3,000 years.

DeMille's mistake is such a big deal because the Jewish claim of national revelation, as opposed to individual revelation, is the central defining event that makes Judaism different than every other religion in the world.

How so?

History and Legends

Two types of stories are part of any national heritage.

The first kind is legends. Included in this category is George Washington's admission to chopping down the cherry tree, along with his statement, "I cannot tell a lie." Johnny Appleseed planting apple trees across America with his discarded apple cores is another legend.

Then there is history. For example, George Washington was the first president of the United States. William the Conqueror led the Battle of Hastings in 1066 in which Harold, King of England, was killed. The Jews of Spain were expelled from their country in 1492, the year Christopher Columbus set sail.

What is the difference between legend and history?

A legend is an unverified story. By their very nature legends are unverifiable because they have very few eyewitnesses. Perhaps little George did chop down the cherry tree. We can't know if it happened. This does not mean that the legend is necessarily false, only that it is unverifiable. No one thinks legends are facts, therefore they are not accepted as reliable history.

History, however, is comprised of events we know actually happened. It is reliable because we can determine if the claimed event is true or false through a number of ways. One key to verification is the assertion that large numbers of eyewitnesses observed the specific event.

Why is the number of claimed original witnesses a principal determining factor in making historical accounts reliable? This can be understood through looking at the nature of the following series of claims and weighing their levels of credibility. The nature of the claim itself can often determine its degree of believability.

The Believability Game

Gauge the level of credibility of the following scenarios.

Some claims are inherently unverifiable. For example, would you believe me if I told you the following:

Scenario #1:

"Last week after dinner, I went for a walk through the forest near my house. Suddenly everything was awash in a tremendous light and God appeared to me, designating me as His prophet. He told me to announce this revelation to you at this time."

Believable?

In theory this could have happened. It doesn't seem likely, but you don't know I'm lying. Would you choose to believe me?

Without any substantiating evidence, why choose to believe me? A foolish move, indeed.

Scenario #2:

Would you believe me if I told you the following:

"Last night while I was eating dinner with my family, the room started to suddenly shake and God's booming voice was heard by all of us. He designated me as His prophet and commanded me to announce this revelation."

Believable?

This could have happened too. If I were to bring in my family to confirm the story it would be more believable than the first story. You certainly don't know if I'm lying.

Would you believe me? Would you fork over $10,000 dollars if I told you God commanded you to do so?

No way. There is still not enough evidence to trust my claim ― because it is very possible that my family is lying.

Scenario #3:

There is another type of claim that you can know is false. For example, would you believe me if I told you this:

"Do you remember what happened 10 minutes ago just as you began reading this article? Remember how the room started shaking, then the ceiling opened up to the skies, and you and I together heard God's booming voice come down and say 'Thou shalt hearken to the voice of Nechemia Coopersmith for he is my prophet!' And then the room went back to normal and you continued reading. You remember that, don't you?"

Is this believable?

This kind of claim is completely different. The two previous scenarios at least had the possibility of being true. You chose not to accept them because they were unverifiable. However this third scenario is impossible to believe. I'm claiming something happened to you that you know did not happen. Since you didn't experience it, you know I'm lying. I cannot convince you of something that you yourself know didn't happen.

I cannot convince you of something that you yourself know didn't happen.

This first type of claim ― that something happened to someone else ― is unverifiable, because you do not know for certain that the claim is a lie. Therefore it is possible for a person to decide to accept the claim as true if he really wanted to and take that leap of faith.

However, the other type of claim ― that something happened to you ― you know if it is inherently false. People do not accept patently false assertions, especially those that carry significant consequences.

Sinai: An Impossible Hoax

So far we have seen two types of claims ― one is unverifiable and the other is inherently false.

Could the revelation at Sinai have been a brilliant hoax, duping millions of people into believing that God spoke to them?

Let's imagine the scene. Moses comes down the mountain and claims, "We all today heard God speak, all of you heard the God's voice from the fire..."

Assuming Moses is making it up, how would the people respond to his story?

"Moses! What are you talking about?! Boy, you sure had us going there for awhile. We may have even believed you if you came down and claimed that God appeared to you personally. But now you blew it! Now we know you're lying because you're claiming an event happened to us that we know didn't happen! We did not hear God speak to us from any fire!"

If the revelation at Sinai did not occur, then Moses is claiming an event everyone immediately knows is an outright lie, since they know that they never heard God speak. It is preposterous to think Moses can get away with a claim that everyone knows is lie.

Revelation Claimed Later in History?

Perhaps a hoax such as this could have been attempted at a later period in history. Perhaps the claim of national revelation did not originate at Sinai, but began, for example, 1,000 years after the event was said to have occurred. Perhaps the leader Ezra, for example, appears on the scene, introducing a book purported to be written by God and given to a people who stood at Sinai a long time ago.

Could someone get away with this kind of hoax? For example, would you believe the following:

"I want to let you in on a very little-known, but true fact. In 1794 over 200 years ago, from May until August, the entire continent of North America mysteriously sank under the sea. For those four months, the whole continent was submerged and somehow all animal, plant and human life managed to adapt to these bizarre conditions. Then, on August 31, the entire continent suddenly floated up to the surface and life resumed to normal."

Is there a possibility that I'm telling the truth? Do you know for a fact that it is a lie? After all, it happened so long ago, how do you know it didn't happen? Maybe you learned about in school and just forgot about it.

A significant event with many eyewitnesses cannot be perpetuated as a hoax.

You know that North America did not sink hundreds of years ago for one simple reason: If it did, you would have heard about it. An event so unique and amazing, witnessed by multitudes of people would have been known, discussed, and passed down, becoming a part of history. The fact that no one has heard of it up until now means you know the story is not true, making it impossible to accept.

An event of great significance with a large number of eyewitnesses cannot be perpetuated as a hoax. If it did not happen, everyone would realize it is false since no one ever heard about it before. Thus, if such an event was indeed accepted as part of history, the only way to understand its acceptance is that the event actually happened.

Introduced Later?

Let's assume for the moment that the revelation at Mount Sinai is really a hoax; God did not write the Torah. How did the revelation at Sinai become accepted for thousands of years as part of our nation's history?

Imagine someone trying to pull off such a hoax. An Ezra figure shows up one day holding a scroll.

"Hey Ezra – what are you holding there?"
"This is the Torah."
"The Torah? What's that?"
"It's an amazing book filled with laws, history and stories. Here, take a look at it."
Very nice, Ezra. Where did you get this?"
"Open up the book and see what it says. This book was given thousands of years ago to your ancestors. Three million of them stood at Mount Sinai and heard God speak! God appeared to everyone, giving His law and instruction."

How would you respond to such a claim?

The people give Ezra a quizzical look and say,

"Wait a second, Ezra. Something is a little fishy here. Why haven't we ever heard of this before? You're describing one of the most momentous events that could ever happen, claiming that it happened to our ancestors – and we never heard about it?"

"Sure. It was a long time ago. Of course you never heard about it."

"C'mon Ezra! It's impossible that our grandparents or great-grandparents would not have passed down the most significant event in our nation's history to some of the people! How could it be that no one has heard about this up until now?! You're claiming all my ancestors, the entire nation, 3 million people heard God speak and received a set of instructions called the Torah, and none of us have heard about it?! You must be lying."

If one cannot pull off a hoax with regard to a continent sinking, so too one cannot pull off a hoax to convince an entire people that their ancestors experienced the most unique event in all of human history.

Everyone would know it's a lie.

For thousands of years, Sinai was accepted as central to Jewish history. How else can this be explained?

Given that people will not fall for a hoax they know is a lie, how could national revelation have been not only accepted ― but faithfully followed with great sacrifice by the vast majority of Jews?

The only way a people would accept such a claim is if it really happened. If Sinai did not happen, everyone would know it's a lie and it would never have been accepted. The only way one can ever claim a nation experienced revelation and have it accepted is if it is true.

Sinai: The Only Claim Of National Revelation

Throughout history, tens of thousands of religions have been started by individuals, attempting to convince people that God spoke to him or her. All religions that base themselves on some type of revelation share essentially the same beginning: a holy person goes into solitude, comes back to his people, and announces that he has experienced a personal revelation where God appointed him to be His prophet.

Would you believe someone who claims that God appointed him a new prophet?

Would you believe someone who claims to have received a personal communication from God appointing him or her as God's new prophet?

Maybe He did. Then again, maybe He didn't. One can never know. The claim is inherently unverifiable.

Personal revelation is an extremely weak basis for a religion since one can never know if it is indeed true. Even if the individual claiming personal revelation performs miracles, there is still no verification that he is a genuine prophet. Miracles do not prove anything. All they show ― assuming they are genuine ― is that he has certain powers. It has nothing to do with his claim of prophecy.

Maimonides writes:

Israel did not believe in Moses, our teacher, on account of the miracles he performed. For when one's faith is based on miracles, doubt remains in the mind that these miracles may have been done through the occult and witchcraft...

What then were the grounds of believing him? The revelation on Sinai which we saw with our own eyes, and heard with our own ears, not having to depend on the testimony of others... (Mishna Torah - Foundations of Torah 8:1)

A Bold Prediction

There are 15,000 known religions in all of recorded history. Given this inherent weakness, why do all of them base their claim on personal revelation? If someone wanted their religion to be accepted, why wouldn't they present the strongest, most believable claim possible ― i.e. national revelation! It's far more credible. No one has to take a leap of faith and blindly trust just one person's word. It is qualitatively better to claim that God came to everyone, telling the entire group that so-and-so is His prophet.

Why would God establish His entire relationship with a nation through one man, without any possibility of verification, and still expect this nation to obediently follow an entire system of instructions, based only on blind faith?

Yet, Judaism is the only religion in the annals of history that makes the best of all claims ― that everyone heard God speak. No other religion claims the experience of national revelation. Why?

Furthermore, the author of the Torah predicts that there will never be another claim of national revelation throughout history!

'You might inquire about times long past, from the day that God created man on earth, and from one end of heaven to the other: Has there ever been anything like this great thing or has anything like it been heard? Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fires as you have heard and survived?' (Deut. 4:32-33)

Let's consider the option that God did not write the Torah, and its author successfully convinced a group of people to accept a false claim of national revelation. In this book, the author writes a prediction that over the course of history no one will ever make a similar claim. That means if such a claim is ever made at some future time, the prediction will end up being false and his religion is finished.

How could the author include in the book he is passing off as a hoax the prediction that no other person will ever attempt to perpetuate the same hoax when he just made that exact claim? If he could do it, he can be certain that others will too, especially since it is the best possible claim to make. If you are making up a religion, you do not write something you know you cannot predict and whose outcome you would think is guaranteed to be exactly the opposite.

However, aside from the Jewish claim of Mount Sinai, it is a fact that no other nation has ever claimed such a similar national revelation.

Let's summarize two primary questions:

1. Out of 15,000 known religions in recorded history, why is Judaism the only one that claims national revelation, the best of all claims? Why do all other religions base themselves on the inherently weak assertion of personal revelation?

2. If Judaism's claim is indeed an example of a successful hoax that falsely asserts national revelation, the author just got away with passing off the best possible claim, and others will certainly follow suit. Why then would he predict that no one else will ever make a similar claim, a prediction he knows he cannot foresee, and whose outcome is likely to be the exact opposite?

There is one simple answer to both questions. A national revelation ― as opposed to personal revelation ― is the one lie you cannot get away with. It is one event you cannot fabricate. The only way to make this claim is if it actually happened.

If the claim is true, the people will believe it because they are agreeing to something they already know. Either they personally witnessed it, or their ancestors collectively passed down the account as part of their nation's accepted history.

If the claim is false, it's like trying to convince you that God spoke to you or your parents and somehow you never heard of it. No one would ever accept such a claim.

Therefore no other religion has ever made the best of all claims, because it is the one claim that can only be made if it is true. One cannot pass national revelation off as a hoax.

When inventing a religion, the originator must resort to personal revelation, despite its inherent weakness, since it is a claim that is unverifiable. The originator can hope to find adherents willing to take a leap of faith and accept his or her religion. After all, no one can ever know it is a lie. [Of course, no one can know if it's true either.] This simply cannot work with national revelation since it's the one claim that everyone will know is a lie.

It's no wonder that all other religions are based on 'personal' revelation.

Only Judaism can claim national revelation since the Jewish people is the only nation in the history of mankind who ever experienced it.

Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the other major religions of the world both accept the Jewish revelation at Sinai, including the Five Books of Moses in their Bible, and hold the Sinai revelation as a key component of their religion.

When starting their own religions, why did they build upon the Jewish claim? Why didn't they just deny the revelation ever happened?

The answer is that they knew that if national revelation can never be fabricated; so too, its validity can therefore never be denied.

Now it is understandable how the Author of the Torah can confidently predict that there will never be another claim of national revelation in history.

Because only God knew it would happen only once, as it did ― at Sinai over 3,000 years ago.

Rabbi Moshe Zeldman performed undergraduate work in Artificial Intelligence and Philosophy at the University of Toronto, and has rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah. He lectures on a wide variety of topics at Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem, and to audiences around the world. He is also involved with research into hidden codes in the Torah. He resides in Jerusalem with his wife and their five children.

Visitor Comments: 57

(46)
JAIME ARANGO H.,
January 6, 2015 4:54 PM

excellent articleG-D bless you

(45)
avi,
March 12, 2014 3:22 PM

this isn't proof god (as in creator of the universe) spoke at sinai. it's as near as we're going to get of proof that a being who had the audacity to call themself "god" spoke at sinai - most likely with the help of an amplifier. but not the creator of the universe.

RG,
March 20, 2014 1:52 PM

amplifier?

Where exactly would he get this amplifier, 3000 years ago?

Anonymous,
November 9, 2014 4:04 PM

That must have been some powerful amplifier, to be able to clearly reach 600000 men, plus, women, children, elderly. I'm not sure we have the technology for that yet. Do you believe aliens are responsible? For what purpose?

V.C.A.,
December 10, 2014 7:34 PM

Avi, you are absolutely correct. It could have been an alien college student prank with technology far beyond our own that was driving by earth on his way to a toga party somewhere else in the galaxy and decided to have some fun with a bunch of primitive ants. The book left behind might have very easily been a draft to a thesis paper. All we know for now is that 3mm people were witnesses to the event. That is all.

The leap of faith comes not from the revelation, but from the belief in who the source truly was. Just as easily could have been the Creator Himself.

Here's the thing, though. The thesis paper does not only describe events that happened in the past, but events that will happen in the future. One day we will be able to verify those events (if and when they happen). E.g. the coming of the Messiah.

Problem is...G-d created us with free will. We could either accept the accounts and predictions in the Bible, or we could not. That's up to us. Even when the Messiah comes, we could have doubt - after all, the alien college student could have had some technology that predicts the future. That's the "problem" with faith and free will.

G-d's existence, however, as the Creator of the Universe, is undeniable. Science and technology will never be able to explain away the Creator.

In the meantime, Judaism teaches love, peace, and respect for one another. It provides a structure for a healthy family and a thriving community. Whether Judaism *is* the word of G-d becomes secondary. If the Bible turns out to be an alien college paper dropped to us as a prank, well...that student deserves an A .

What makes me a Jew is my belief in one god as the Almighty Creator. Not because the Bible says so, but because that is the only explanation for everything in the Universe. No other religion fits the mold of that Almighty Creator. The Bible...well...it's a nice guide to daily living until the ultimate truth is revealed to me.

(44)
MYNCACA,
January 4, 2014 1:00 AM

Finally the truth

I have been a member of the LDS faith, tried to understand Islam and just recently tried to become Christian. But in the end I had more questions than answers. I knew that my mom was a Jew from Germany, so I thought I would check Judaism out, and it feels so RIGHT and TRUTHFUL!

(43)
Penina,
October 17, 2013 3:12 PM

excellent analysis

I've heard some of these arguments before but never in so coherent a fashion. It's enough to make a reader believe the truth of Sinai. I just don't get how, after G-d took the trouble to speak to the Nation, they still regressed nearly immediately. If they were that foolish, G-d should have made a nation of Moses.

(42)
Joe Joe,
April 29, 2013 3:15 AM

national revelation?

So G-d can't redo His revelation, nationally, to confirm it to a different generation?

Beverly Kurtin,
July 19, 2013 5:16 AM

God can do...

Anything he wants to do but who will not do it.
Israel is God's people. We were the first to be chosen to spread the truth that there is only ONE God. All souls that were to become souls were there. Good does not become man and no man can become God.

(41)
lawrence,
January 28, 2013 10:20 PM

I have been brought up in the Christian faith, but have lacked faith when are ministers say God had spoken to them, this artical has explained a lot to me and belief in God thankyou

(40)
Larry Silverstein,
December 24, 2011 5:51 PM

One of the most important questions in TORAH is, "Was Moshe schizophrenic & hearing voices in his head or was God really talking to him?
If Moshe WAS schizophrenic then the whole Chosen People & Promised Land thing is dead in the water & the Arabs have as much right to the land as anyone else.
If YHWH was REALLY talking to Moshe, then He was the FIRST anti-Semite!
Exodus 32:7-10
7 At the same time, the LORD said to Moses, “Go down from this mountain. Your people, the people you brought out of the land of Egypt, have committed a terrible sin. 8 They have very quickly turned away from what I commanded them to do. They made a calf from melted gold for themselves. They are worshiping that calf (Moloch) and making HUMAN sacrifices to it. The people have said, ‘Israel, these are the gods that led you out of Egypt.’”
9 The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and I know that they are very stubborn. They will always turn against me. 10 So now let me DESTROY THEM in anger. Then I will make a great nation from you.”

Anonymous,
May 20, 2012 4:49 PM

Fool!! The whole, entire nation heard G-d speaking directly to them! They weren't all schizophrenic and hearing voices! ergo, everything that is in that Torah is true, including Moshe's refusal to have Bnei Yisroel distroyed and a new nation made from him. Bnei Yisroel did teshuvah, and their lineage continued to be the am nivchar. Are you a missionary? You sure sound like it, with your lies and half-truths.

brett,
November 14, 2012 5:36 PM

missionary???

This article by the Rabbi's is brilliant in truth. The national revelation of God to Israel is foundational to faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
I'm a Judeo Christian. If I'm wrong about Jesus as Messiah please help me. But if "anonymous" is refering to the "missionary" as Christian, please understand that there are many of us in Christianity teaching this same truth the Rabbi's teach in this article. Please forgive those in Christianity that have divorced themselves from Judaism and taught against national revelation.
Thank you Aish.com for the great article.

Stanley,
January 10, 2013 3:30 PM

Here's help

You write "If I'm wrong about Jesus as Messiah, please help me". With pleasure. Please see "Why Jews don't believe in Jesus" on this site.

Anonymous,
July 19, 2013 5:24 AM

What part did you miss?

Moses alone did not hear the voice: THREE MILLION people heard God's voice. If ONLY MOSES heard the voice then there is no Judaism! But everyone heard the voice. How else could see be still one nation. God promised the land not on My. Sinai but to our fathers: Abra I am, Issac, and Jacob.

(39)
Brad Ponsart,
October 28, 2011 9:55 AM

What of this Moses.

What impressed me regarding the whole Exodus narrative, was that Moses was brought up in the house of Pharoah, so his knowledge of Israel's culture and traditions would have been extremely limited. He appears on the scene rather suddenly, and declares that Israel's deity has revealed that he (Moses), was going to deliver their entire nation from Egypt. The nation of Israel must have been extremely sceptical. What could have convinced them that this man, brought up in the mysteries of the Egytptian religion, and perhaps slated to take up the throne of Egypt, should sympathize with their plight, know anything about their deity, and be qualified to instruct them about their form of worship towards their deity, or their mores.
Israel must have come to realize very quickly that Moses' claims would indeed have to be true. No way Moses, an uneducated man in the mores of Israel should have had such an extensive knowledge of their oral traditions, the sacrifices and holy days their forefathers had handed down to them, except he had obtained it from direct revelation from the deity. The elders within Israel must have picked up on this very early. The majority of the nation it appears were either ignorant of the traditions or lax in their practice, and had adopted much of the religious practices of the Egyptians, as we see later in the narritive with the golden calf and their desire to return to Egypt.
Israel's scepticism in regards to Moses must have quickly evaporated when they saw their deity in essence making a mockery of the Egyptian gods and religion through Moses' announced plagues and pestilences. Then his position secured when he zealously reintroduced them to their oral traditions, and strictly adhered to them himself, truly leaving Egypt behind.
The icing on the cake as they say, was when the deity took up a relationship with the entire nation, as they had only previously heard tales of with their patriarchs, speaking to Him face to face.

(38)
Anonymous,
October 18, 2011 4:03 PM

After reading the articles in this site I can clearly see no 'holes' in the answers to questions about the Jewish religon. I was rasied to be a Christian, but as a teen begain to see the holes in that belief. I know I belive in God, but have no religon. This site is VERY informative and has left me wanting for more! Thanks

(37)
Craig,
July 6, 2011 10:28 AM

Perhaps not impossible?

Good article, and i am inclined to agree with your strength of argument, in fact, anyone with a modicum of rational thought within themselves really should arrive at similar conclusions...however!
I don't think it's entirely impossible to 'hoax' the masses. In fact, presently the current media is that closely controlled that it could have the majority of the planet, never mind a single nation, believing in one thing or another.
I find it hard to believe the entire populace of a nation was gathered at the foot of a mountain, for numerous reasons, what about the sick, elderly, giving birth, imprisoned etc..? So convince a large number of people, and that is then spread amongst the populace seems more reasonable. Today, having, say, a stadium full of people and convincing them of something then letting that spread to a populace of 3 million or so, which is not a lot, isn't impossible, remember we are talking 3000 years ago roughly, no internet then.
Also given the right circumstances, the leader/s of a small nation possibly could enforce new beliefs as truth, through the teaching this to children, and after generation and generation, as long as this 'truth' is taught it may well be the case that somewhere down those generations it's taken as fact.
There are other arguments too, mass halucinations, misunderstanding of events etc...maybe with less credence but exist nonetheless.
Anyway, your reasoning is sound, and yes no other religion can make this claim, and i'm certainly not being disparaging or refuting any religious claim, but i felt compelled to argue that however improbable a hoax, it's not impossible.

Yechiel Shlipshon,
October 14, 2011 3:01 AM

All heard/

As I read your respomce, i thought of the answer; no one imprisoned would nessseccerily by out of the "loop', the sick, would have heard, and the elderly in Hebre4w families use to be with their kinfolk. So all could have heard.
Also, could a mericle of no sick, or weak persons? Or few, anyway.
Thank you for the inquary. We do need to tink of these items, so we can reflut the refluters.

Anonymous,
November 14, 2012 3:51 PM

Your answer is in the article

Let's consider the option that God did not write the Torah, and its author successfully convinced a group of people to accept a false claim of national revelation. In this book, the author writes a prediction that over the course of history no one will ever make a similar claim. That means if such a claim is ever made at some future time, the prediction will end up being false and his religion is finished.
How could the author include in the book he is passing off as a hoax the prediction that no other person will ever attempt to perpetuate the same hoax when he just made that exact claim? If he could do it, he can be certain that others will too, especially since it is the best possible claim to make. If you are making up a religion, you do not write something you know you cannot predict and whose outcome you would think is guaranteed to be exactly the opposite.

(36)
jack,
December 3, 2010 4:31 AM

AWSOME!

Michael C. Johnson,
May 2, 2012 4:14 PM

This is all very interesting

This is all very interesting indeed

(35)
AlbertE,
May 18, 2010 12:08 AM

Chapman.

"Johnny Appleseed planting apple trees across America with his discarded apple cores is another legend."
NO, not a legend. Is truth. John Chapman is the name. Did plant apple sees where ever he went in the Ohio river basin, at that time still American Indian territory. Was called "Big Medicine" by the American Indian as he knew healing powers and remedies.
Truth!!

(34)
Nick,
May 17, 2010 3:23 PM

The entire world is not supposed to be Jewish

In response to the previous remarks that seem to be indicating that since certain individuals' claims that the holocaust never occured somehow refutes the logic presented in the article, it is irrelevant what a small group of extremests purport, the fact of the matter is that history records and will continue to record the truth of the holocaust, which was witnessed by millions. I agree whole-heartedly with the logic presented in the article, however I would like to point out the other major religions of the world follow the interpretations and ispirations of their prophet. Their numbers far exceed the Jewish people, billions of Christians and Muslims. Only jews are forbidden to have no image of G-d. Therefore I would say that Hashem was indeed working through these prophets, converting so many people from paganism to monotheism. Certainly their beliefs and practices are now far removed from the idolatry they were practicing prior to their conversion in ancient times. Not everyone can be or is supposed to be a Jew, it takes a high level of committment and development. Other nations had prophets who could validly hear the voice of Hashem, the Torah tells us so. Certainly Hashem created these prophets for his purpose, and used them to bring people closer to him and his ways. Revelation to the multitudes is the best and highest form of revelation, no doubt. And it points to the highest expression of Hashem's truth. But the article seemed to be saying that the Prophets of other nations were utterly without merit, and to this point I disagree. I think Hashem is creating many roads to himself, some more direct than others.

(33)
Jossef,
March 26, 2010 9:52 PM

Prerequisit read for every human being

Excellent article, well structured and clear, about the most central issue humanity has ever raised; does God exist? is the Torah the word of God? With this kind of logic, there is no need to be in a foxhole to stop being an Atheist.

(32)
Shlomo,
February 1, 2010 9:30 AM

KORAN AFFIRMS THE TORAH

I have recently come across some interesting Islamic verses in the Koran, the holy book of the Muslems. Even though this book is full of verses about punishment for failing to become a 'believer' in the Muslem sense, surprisingly (to me it was :-) the Koran seemed pretty clear abou stating that the Torah was indeed given to the Jewish people, and that the land of Israel does belong to the Jews, as a gift from Allah. Do the Palestinians know about those verses? You can look those verses up: surah 5;21-23 5;44 7;129 7;137 Hatzlacha 10;84 17;104

(31)
anonymous,
February 1, 2010 9:29 AM

Excellent!

I am good in logic too and this argument is excellent! the fact that so many people deny the holocost is the modern version to understand how so many people deny sinai's revelation! but the fact that many people say that G-od doesnt exist dont prevent HIM to exist!!! there is a special picture on the wall we can see with special glasses and many people say that there isnt, they can tell what they want and believe what they want, the picture exists and stay on the wall!! is this article translated in hebrew please?? kol akavod! gmar hatima tova!!

(30)
Jamie,
February 1, 2010 9:29 AM

Holocaust deniers are NOT getting away with it

Everyone knows they are lying. if fact in future generations when there are no more eyewitnesses this argument will be one of the most compelling claims to know the Holocaust happened and the physical evidence isn''t faked.

(29)
Dvirah,
February 1, 2010 9:29 AM

Applying your logic that something that happened to and was witnessed by large numbers of people is irrefutable, how is it that so many people now deny the Holocost - and get away with it?
Logic notwithstanding, if an individual or any number of individuals decide to refuse to accept some fact as true, nothing: not logic, not eyewitnesses and not physical evidence will change their decision. Only the inherently honest are swayed by truth.

(28)
Burt B,
February 1, 2010 9:28 AM

Pascal only addressed the Christian issue "Does God exist"
Pascal's Wager
does not apply to because belief that God gave the Jews the Torah on Mt. Sinai does not have infinite reward to the non-Jew.
But I have always liked this argument, even though I heard it after I was convinced to question the statement "There is no God". The Circumstances that caused me to "Look for God" was ... after an hour of explaining the theory of Calculus to a man, he asked me first "How do you prove a negative?". To which I responded "you can't" (actually, you can, but you would have to examine every possible place where the condition could exist to be able to prove that the condition did not exist) His second question to me was "How can you then prove that God does not exist?" That led to my examination of the assumptions I had been using, and if there was a chance that God did exist, I had a responsibility to learn what he wanted of me, and why he put me here.

(27)
S. Báez,
January 29, 2009 7:41 AM

Abraham, one man's relationship with G-d passed on to suceeding generations, confirmed by them through G-d's outworking in their lives

Please be not too hasty in discarding the influence of one man's testimony as opposed to that of a nation. G-d made his covenant with Abram/Abraham because he could trust him to lead his family correctly. Abram was directed by G-d to leave Ur and go to a land G-d would show to him. In that land he received G-d's promise for him and his descendents. Archaeological research has found Ur. It existed. Could Ezra, so many centuries later have access to proof of the existence of Ur, let alone to the life of one lone man and his wife? Where would he have gotten the idea for placing his invention in such locales as Ur and Haran, and Egypt, if such an invention were his. He was a priest and therefore carried the knowledge of the history of the Jewish people, but there is no indication he knew about ancient Babylonian and Assyrian history. And why start thee anyway? If it was nothing but an invention, why not have Abram born in Canaan? Egypt he would have known. But Haran? Ur? For that matter, would Moses? Maybe. He might have had access to old Egyption records that could have mentioned them. But again there is no proof. It was Abraham's faith that began the march to Sinai. Was his faith founded on a revelation from G-d or some long held remnant of knowledge transmitted generation to generation from the beginning of the creation of man? NO physical proof is available in almost any instance, but agonizingly slowly more is coming to light. Because I have not seen something or experienced something personally does not negate its existence, nor make it a lie.

(26)
betzalel,
August 20, 2008 10:56 PM

the three legged chicken ploy (a very good ploy)

It seems that whenever anyone hears this piece of evidence for the torah, including myself i admit, the wheels start cranking in our heads to come up with plausible scenarios, one after another. I heard a rabbi once explain this problem. he said that we can always come up with a possible way to explain the millions of people in every generation believing in sinai starting out with some natural event. and each time, it's a little easier to believe. we get a better, more refined explanation, and it becomes more difficult to tell whether or not the sinai story should be believed. he gives an analogy: you are the editor of the world publication of a science journal, and someone sends you a research paper to be published, with extensive testing and documentation, control experiments etc, the results of which show that chickens hatched in environments between 70-80 degrees fahrenheit, one out of a thousand will come out with three legs. and what would you do with such a paper? he says you throw it in the waste can. because the conditions are very common, and out of millions of chickens every year, no one has ever seen a three legged chicken (maybe one). so no matter how good the explanation, and how well documented the evidence, you don't see the results in the real world, even though the claim is that they should be fairly common. even not knowing where the flaw is, you know already there is a flaw. this sinai business is the same kind of thing. everyone comes up with a great way to explain how it must've happened, how stories like this get started, how easy it would be to fool all those people. but nowhere in all of history do we have so much as a hint of a group even trying to pull it off. tens of thousands of religions, and this plausible, natural, easy to perform deception has never even been attempted. so the ease with which we dismiss it, and the many ways we come up with to explain it away, none of them are realistic, real world realities, just intuitions we have about how easy it would be. and these intuitions are incorrect intuitions. they're not workable enough to have ever even occurred once in all of known human history. a long line of snake oil salesmen and prophets popping out of caves with "news" for everyone else, and we have a single, unique case of a people believing in a unique story, for thousands of years, and scores of generations. so every time a new explanation comes up, how about showing an example of that explanation having ever actually happened? also keep in mind that we have evidence in our favor, and the mere suggestion that there is a possibility of some other explanation being true, doesn't follow with any practical result. you will always be able to come up with an explanation for anything not being true. try to come up with reasons why there really isn't a place called "russia". maybe it's just a big hoax? just another three legged chicken...

(25)
Dennis Newland,
February 27, 2008 3:44 AM

An encouter with God

The problem with this is that many simple minded people can be made to believe or will agree to believe that they heard God simply because they would appear to be the odd ones out (or the unblessed or un righteous) if they didn't. A bit like the emporers new clothes scenario. However I am not implying that God did not speak to Moses or that the ten commandments were indeed given to him. What I am saying is that in those troubled times it would be easier to lie on a large scale that God was actually heard. The process of truth quoted to support it as truth is not totally airtightWhat I believe is the greater evidence of Gods presence is the constant supply of food and water to the people in the wilderness at that time. To say that if you have had a revelation from God that no one will believe you I would say does it really matter. If God has spoken to you spiritually and you have felt his presence that is primarily for you alone unless God has asked you to shout it from the roof tops. If others disbelieve that contact from God cannot occur more fool them. There's none so blind as those that cannot see. Here I will give you what to many is an unbelievable situation I have seen Ghosts in the roof space of the Houses of parliament in London many years agowhilst working as a Telecommunications engineer, I queried without disclosing my encounter this matter with one of the Beefeaters that guarded St Stephens entrance at that building and we discussed unusual occuurrences onehe named as a regular occurence was the sighting of Five overall clad men near the central spires at 2:15pm. These were allegedly the spirits of five bricklayers who'se scaffolding (wooden) had collapsed. The time I saw them was exactly 2-15pm and yes they were wearing overalls and they were coming up the curved roof near the spire where the scaffold collapsed and they dissapeared despite there being no other exit possible where they could have gone. Now you may not believe this But I personally know it's true so you can call me a liar forever and a day but you can never change my belief and the corroboration that I heard from only one man. Having a spiritual experience with God on a personal scale is of similar consequence. A man with an argument is no match for a man who has had a spiritual encounter with his creator.

Dennis

(24)
Daniel Rosenberg,
December 19, 2007 11:50 PM

The counter argumants seem pretty weak

First off according to the Torah the revelation at Sinai occured in 1313 BCE and the Jews entered Israel 40 years later and began conquering the land in the name of Hashem as written in the Torah which seems to me to be not very much of a gap for people to believe an invented Torah. Also even though there are many Xians and secular Jews that are unfamiliar with the events doesn't negate the tradition and unbroken chain of history that observant Jews have kept in the millions every generation. Also there are many Jews seperated from mainstream Sephardic and Ashkenazi traditions (such as African Jews, etc)who keep the same memory of these events even though they have been seperated for thousands of years.

(23)
Joshua Goldstein,
October 10, 2007 9:43 AM

Comments on proof of Sinai

There is the possibility that the events that ocured on mount Sinai where staged with use of alchemy and a few other people behind the scenes. After all, they just came out of Egypt and that was the kind of things that made Egypt great. Another strong possibility is that the Hebrews collectively decided that such an story of devine revelation with the special effects would assure them to be feared and percieved as mighty in the eyes of all the nations for years and years to come.

(22)
Zev,
June 8, 2007 4:28 PM

correction

After rereading the article a number of times, I found the flaw that was bothering me. In the case of Ezra, it would have been possible to believe that such an event had happened thousands of years prior. It could have plausibly just been forgotten. The proof, is, that none of our grandparents sat us down and told us that they heard from their parents etc. We only know because it's written in the Book. A book could have gotten lost. Also, look how many people think that only Moses heard the Voice. So you have to make a correction: Had Ezra been introducing something previously unheard of (theoretically because there's no such record), some people would have accepted it, and others would have rejected it, and then there would have been two camps. Since we know that this was no the case, we may conclude that they had known from before.

(21)
michael bernstein,
July 5, 2006 12:00 AM

question on proof of sinai

I have pasted below the question of an on-line sceptic with whom I sometimes learn. Your thoughts on addressing the question are appreciated......"I admit it's a better narrative than joesph smith finding some gold tablets in the woods. but the issue is that while our source claims the entire nation heard the revelation it doesn't prove that it happened if there was a long enough gap between the source and the happening to allow all with knowledge of the event to die out. this argument therefore presumes a contemporaneous writing down of the torah"

(20)
Jennie Hoffleith,
February 8, 2004 12:00 AM

Rabbi Zeidman

Thanks for the enlightened article.I just love aish. com
and enjoy it tremendously.
You answer all my questions.
Thanks!

(19)
Anonymous,
May 5, 2002 12:00 AM

amazing!

This is all making sense now. I thank you. Another thing that I find very interesting is that when ever I have asked the pastor's of other faiths or priests to exsplain their faith in the, "bible," I receive the same answer.. "It is not for you to read and to understand.. you must wait for a priest of pastor to exspalin it to you so that you do not receive any self revelations and become misguided.".. and when I persist with my questions, I am then told to either leave them alone or that if I am truely obediant, then I would not ask any questions to understand what I was being told to belive. So, I beg the question of, "What are they afraid of? That I will find the truth if I search hard enough?"
However, I find your website and information informative and enlightening.. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Shalom.

(18)
Michael M,
April 26, 2002 12:00 AM

several flaws

In reading your article entitled "Did God Speak at Mt. Sinai", I found SEVERAL major logistical flaws in your argument that it had to have actually happened. Your primary counterpoint involves a hypothetical claim that the entire continent of North America sinking into the ocean in 1794, and no one remembering the event, therefore proving it to be false. Your argument therefore claims that the story of God speaking to 3 million Jews must be true because it is believed by millions of Jews today. The problem is that the analogy is weak. Here is how. 1) The story of what happened in 1794 would have been recognized by virtually the entire world, whereas we do not know how many Jews supposedly heard God's instruction. Claims of there having been 3 million of them may well be greatly exaggerated. There may have only been a few thousand of them following Moses, making it more likely that it did NOT really happen, because many fewer people than you believe may have been in the desert with Moses. Secondly your flood story took place only 200 years ago rather than 3300 years ago. MANY more of us today can reject a story that supposedly took place 208 years ago than can reject one that took place 3300 years ago. How many of us really know our ancestors were in the desert with Moses, versus how many know our ancestors were in North America 208 years ago? Please devise a better argument. It seems to me as if you intentionally chose a weak one. What if I claimed that 1000 years ago, twenty thousand people with whom I share a common ancestor all came together in one place and heard God declare them as his children? You may not believe it, but if I was well respected 2300 years ago in a time when science took a backseat to prophecy and mysticism, and I relayed the story to a few hundred of my closest relatives, THEY could easily believe it WITHOUT knowing which of their ancestors (if any) were there at the time it happened. And they might easily pass the story on to their relatives, etc., until it became so well known that it became a common myth after a few years. And then after a few more years it could become accepted as true IF the original story made special claims to be truth and not merely myth.

(17)
Robert Sewell,
April 16, 2002 12:00 AM

Sound Logic for Most Situations, However...

Ordinarily, your logic would be sound.

However, this is a unique situation in which Ezra could indeed have planted a memory of God speaking to the people at Sinai. For in Nehemia 9:17, does it not say that the Israelites of Moses' day did not remember the wonders God had performed only weeks before they arrived at Sinai? Doesn't Nehemia 9 say that the people didn't even remember to keep Sukkot from the time of Yahshua ben Nun to the day of Ezra? If they didn't pass down the memories of these things, how can you be so sure that they passed down the memory of God speaking at Sinai?

It seems obvious that upon our arrival in Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity the people had little or no memory of the book of Moses. It would have been easy at that point to convince the people of many unverifiable legends.

Please note that I am only pointing out a problem with your logic as it applies in this case. I am not challenging the bible's claim that God did speak to us at Sinai, for I believe He did.

(16)
,
March 28, 2002 12:00 AM

Good reasoning, yes, but...

Where is the archaeological evidence that Moses existed, or that the Israelites ever lived in, let alone fled, Egypt? Why does there not seem to be any archaeological evidence from Egypt, especially considering that Moses was an adopted member of the royal family? Should there not be corroboration of the Exodus story?

(15)
Keren Diamond,
March 3, 2002 12:00 AM

This entire article is wondeful! Just one question: The whole argument is based on the fact that God spoke to the Jews at Sinai. But how do we know for sure that this happened; maybe Moshe did some kind of miracle, made a loud voice come from the mountain and lightning flash...And since we don't believe in Moshe due to the miracles that he did, and the fact that it was God Who actually spoke to us is not verifiable, the entire article is based on an assumption that cannot be verified!

(P.S. I don't mean to sound belligerent, but this ALMOST answered all of my questions and I just need this one thing clarified for it all to make sense...)

(14)
Avrom L.,
January 21, 2002 12:00 AM

Does the Article Prove that G-d Gave the Torah at Mt. Sinai? Unfortunately NO

The article provides sufficient grounds to state that the Torah was not given to the Jews by Moses, and he was not the author, but it does not establish that in fact G-d gave the Torah to the Jews at Mt. Sinai.

How can a human being know whether he is communicating with G-d or some other advanced being? Can an insect distinguish between a moron and a genius?

Until the author of this article can satisfactorily answer the above questions, he can not prove that it was in fact that the Prime Mover (G-d) gave the Torah to the Jews.

(13)
Herne,
July 18, 2001 12:00 AM

Excellent reasoning!

This is a very good article, making a lot of sense. Thank you.

(12)
Anonymous,
May 7, 2001 12:00 AM

Author Responds

Good question! Thanks for sending it in.

I think the answer is as follows:
The Torah says:

'You might inquire about times long past, from the day that God created man
on earth, and from one end of heaven to the other: Has there ever been
anything like this great thing or has anything like it been heard? Has a
people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fires as
you have heard and survived?' (Deut. 4:32-33)

The Torah is saying that at any given point in history you can look back and
scan the times and you will never hear of another people hearing the voice
of G-d and living. We can only look back at the past, once events have
occurred, but by applying this statement to any time in the future, the
Torah is clearly saying that there will never be another claim of national
revelation by a surviving group. Although the Torah was written thousands of
years ago, it is talking to today's generation and saying the same thing -
look throughout all of history - has a claim like this ever been heard? The
Torah is also talking to the generation that will be alive a thousand years
from now, and that generation will be reading the Torah's statement and will
be able scan the additional upcoming thousand years that will be added to
history, and will be unable to find any similar claim as the Jewish claim of
national revelation.

I hope this answers your question.

Nechemia Coopersmith

(11)
Martin Bodek,
April 30, 2001 12:00 AM

Impressive

Most impressive. Were the facts nationally or personally revealed to you? :-) Okay okay, I'm kidding. I enjoyed the read very much and the research is top notch. Good work, sir!

(10)
Yitzchak Moskowitz,
April 30, 2001 12:00 AM

nice article

Kudos to you! A well thought out article that explains the veracity of the Torah. Will it change people's thinking? Maybe, maybe not. But it does provide a good idea for group discussion

(9)
Naomi Buch,
April 29, 2001 12:00 AM

Wonderful. I enjoyed reading it

A very good plea for Judiasm. I am forwarding it, but I don't know if it will sway anyone or not. People believe what they want to believe. Very seldom can you say something that will make people go away with a new set of thoughts in their minds. I am always amazed when I find someone who has listened to what I have said and then acted upon it. But, I keep trying anyway.

(8)
Louise Nash,
April 29, 2001 12:00 AM

Clear explanation given

Thank you for the clear explanations provided in both the Exodus and the Sinai articles.

(7)
Anonymous,
April 24, 2001 12:00 AM

This is the one of the most amazing articles I've read. You can be sure I will be quoting your words to many people...religious and non! Thank you for this burst of clarity!

(6)
Jennifer Greenfield,
February 3, 2001 12:00 AM

My mother sent this article to me and I found it quite convincing, and educational...the whole point you were making made complete sense

(5)
Anonymous,
May 3, 2000 12:00 AM

Entire religions hang on the "visions" of a single person.

I, for one, was glad to read this. It is annoying to learn that millions of people follow religions begun on the so called revelations of single individuals, as both the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses claim. I appreciate that the Bible is full of the witness of many for its truths.

(4)
Anonymous,
April 15, 2000 12:00 AM

wonderful

Thank you for a coherent way to explain my belief that the revelation at Sinai occurred. I am sure I will use it at the sedar next week.

amazingly well thought out, profesionally presented, and factually irrefutuable.
An astounding argument on an issue so foundational to our faith. Thank you for providing me with such strong intellectual grounds for believing...

(2)
Mark Robertson,
April 10, 2000 12:00 AM

It hangs together, but...

How is it possible that after such a unique, all-embracing and powerful experience in which the whole people heard the voice of Hashem say the 10 Commandments, and saw what is normally heard and heard what is normally seen, and having promised to accept the Torah that they could then only 42 days later break one (or maybe two) of these mitzvot and worship the golden calf? We are on a much lower spiritual level, but I can think of no one who would be capable of such a thing.

I live in rural Montana where the Cholov Yisrael milk is difficult to obtain and very expensive. So I drink regular milk. What is your view on this?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Jewish law requires that there be rabbinic supervision during the milking process to ensure that the milk comes from a kosher animal. In the United States, many people rely on the Department of Agriculture's regulations and controls as sufficiently stringent to fulfill the rabbinic requirement for supervision.

Most of the major Kashrut organizations in the United States rely on this as well. You will therefore find many kosher products in America certified with a 'D' next to the kosher symbol. Such products – unless otherwise specified on the label – are not Cholov Yisrael and are assumed kosher based on the DOA's guarantee.

There are many, however, do not rely on this, and will eat only dairy products that are designated as Cholov Yisrael (literally, "Jewish milk"). This is particularly true in large Jewish communities, where Cholov Yisrael is widely available.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote that under limited conditions, such as an institution which consumes a lot of milk and Cholov Yisrael is generally unavailable or especially expensive, American milk is acceptable, as the government supervision is adequate to prevent non-kosher ingredients from being added.

It should be added that the above only applies to milk itself, which is marketed as pure cow's milk. All other dairy products, such as cheeses and butter, may contain non-kosher ingredients and always require kosher certification. In addition, Rabbi Feinstein's ruling applies only in the United States, where government regulations are considered reliable. In other parts of the world, including Europe, Cholov Yisrael is a requirement.

There are additional esoteric reasons for being stringent regarding Cholov Yisrael, and because of this it is generally advisable to consume only Cholov Yisroel dairy foods.

In 1889, 800 Jews arrived in Buenos Aires, marking the birth of the modern Jewish community in Argentina. These immigrants were fleeing poverty and pogroms in Russia, and moved to Argentina because of its open door policy of immigration. By 1920, more than 150,000 Jews were living in Argentina. Juan Peron's rise to power in 1946 was an ominous sign, as he was a Nazi sympathizer with fascist leanings. Peron halted Jewish immigration to Argentina, introduced mandatory Catholic religious instruction in public schools, and allowed Argentina to become a haven for fleeing Nazis. (In 1960, Israeli agents abducted Adolf Eichmann from a Buenos Aires suburb.) Today, Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America with 250,000, though terror attacks have prompted many young people to emigrate. In 1992, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 32 people. In 1994, the Jewish community headquarters in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 85 people. The perpetrators have never been apprehended.

Be aware of what situations and behaviors give you pleasure. When you feel excessively sad and cannot change your attitude, make a conscious effort to take some action that might alleviate your sadness.

If you anticipate feeling sad, prepare a list of things that might make you feel better. It could be talking to a specific enthusiastic individual, running, taking a walk in a quiet area, looking at pictures of family, listening to music, or reading inspiring words.

While our attitude is a major factor in sadness, lack of positive external situations and events play an important role in how we feel.

[If a criminal has been executed by hanging] his body may not remain suspended overnight ... because it is an insult to God (Deuteronomy 21:23).

Rashi explains that since man was created in the image of God, anything that disparages man is disparaging God as well.

Chilul Hashem, bringing disgrace to the Divine Name, is one of the greatest sins in the Torah. The opposite of chilul Hashem is kiddush Hashem, sanctifying the Divine Name. While this topic has several dimensions to it, there is a living kiddush Hashem which occurs when a Jew behaves in a manner that merits the respect and admiration of other people, who thereby respect the Torah of Israel.

What is chilul Hashem? One Talmudic author stated, "It is when I buy meat from the butcher and delay paying him" (Yoma 86a). To cause someone to say that a Torah scholar is anything less than scrupulous in meeting his obligations is to cause people to lose respect for the Torah.

Suppose someone offers us a business deal of questionable legality. Is the personal gain worth the possible dishonor that we bring not only upon ourselves, but on our nation? If our personal reputation is ours to handle in whatever way we please, shouldn't we handle the reputation of our nation and the God we represent with maximum care?

Jews have given so much, even their lives, for kiddush Hashem. Can we not forego a few dollars to avoid chilul Hashem?

Today I shall...

be scrupulous in all my transactions and relationships to avoid the possibility of bringing dishonor to my God and people.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...